mHealth | TechChange | The Institute for Technology and Social Change

Hamlet (community) health workers in Vietnam learn to interact with mCare (Photo credit: FHI360)

With international development program cycles often having a “project design phase”, how can online learning as a team improve project design?

How do you design a technology program intervention to improve health outcomes?

HIV Challenges and Keeping Up with mHealth

According to the WHO, HIV has claimed 39 million lives so far globally with 1.5 million lives in 2013 alone. At the end of 2013, there were 35 million people living with HIV, with 2.1 million becoming newly infected. With 24.7 million people living with HIV in 2013, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region in the world accounting for almost 70% of the global HIV infections.

HIV often gets highlighted as a major problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, but it is also a major public health concern in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam where the use of needles to inject drugs drives the epidemic. As of 2012, 260,000 (of the 89 million) people in Vietnam are living with HIV, according to UNAIDS Vietnam. As a result, FHI 360 is working with the Government of Vietnam to address the country’s HIV challenges with “effective programs that cost less, are implemented locally, and decrease donor dependence”.

Technology developments in public health change very quickly, especially with the emergence of mHealth – there’s more mHealth programming, new applications, and emerging research.

MHealth is a key strategy for us as these applications can be used to incentivize health-seeking actions, increase the timeliness of data collection, improve patient communications, and document system-client interactions. MHealth can also facilitate workforce development through task shifting, performance support, and human resources management.

According the blog Tech in Asia, “For every 100 Vietnamese people, there’s 145 mobile phones. For a country whose population is just over 90 million, that amounts to more than 130 million mobile phones.” RefWorld.org reported that, as of January 2012, census data indicated there were 119 million mobile users in Vietnam when the population was at 88 million. Given the emergence of the mHealth industry and the large percentage of the Vietnamese population with cell phones, we at FHI 360 need to effectively mobilize this ubiquitous technology for impactful programming that helps individuals in all areas of the country protect their health and well-being.

A Social Online Learning Solution

In 2012, I first participated in TechChange’s 4-week online certificate course called “Mobile Phones for Public Health.” I decided to take the course again in 2013 – this time with numerous colleagues — to share our mHealth programming experiences and to continue to learn from renowned mHealth practitioners around the world.

Like all busy development professionals, it is difficult to find time to cultivate learning during our day-to-day work. The TechChange course was structured and delivered to meet our needs.

Here’s a social graph from Mobile Phones for Public Health showing participant interaction

Cutting-edge, timely, and relevant information

TechChange updated its courses at least once every 3-6 months, based on direct feedback (through crowdsourcing and surveys) from its broad learning community to deliver the most up to date and relevant course content.

Great format for busy working professionals in Vietnam and beyond

Keeping our busy schedules in mind, the course content was designed to be mobile and tablet-friendly, allowing us to learn wherever and whenever fit our schedules. All live events were recorded so that learners could access materials according to their schedules.
For those of us who had difficulty finishing the course in the one-month period, access (and technical support) is available for four months after the end of the course so that we can complete our final project and receive the formal certificate.
The online interface was the most intuitive learner platform we have ever used: An online course map visually illustrated all components of the program, while a calendar highlighted a variety of live discussion events with renowned experts from around the world.
The main facilitator actively participated in all discussion boards; introduced weekly themes (through video, email and platform) and summarized (through print and video) the highlights of each week. He and a facilitation team also provided “office hours” for those who needed extra support (and this support was provided in various time zones).

Interactive learning experience

There was great communication between facilitator and learners. The course required 7-9 hours of effort per week and the 50 or so participants were motivated to actively participate. Learner outcomes were clearly defined and each week’s themes were well-articulated so that we knew what to expect and what was expected from us.
Instead of relying primarily on print materials, sharing video, audio and weekly live events/”chats” allowed learners from various cultural backgrounds to gain knowledge and skills through a variety of channels through interactive learning.
Practical exercises and interactive simulations ensured knowledge application and exchange.
Individuals got to know each other through a variety of “get to know you” activities and collaborative exercises.
TechChange added some fun by integrating game dynamics into the course, awarding points each time a person participated in a discussion or attended an event, with a minimum participation threshold established in order to earn a certificate.

Joining a professional network and community

All learners also became TechChange alumni upon finishing the course. We are now connected through social media with others in mHealth (and offered substantial discounts on upcoming courses).
It’s been great to see other mHealth alumni like Lauren Bailey making strides in the field after joining this course.

Here are some additional comments from two of my colleagues:

“I really enjoyed reading the forums at my own pace. I liked that other participants put so much thought into them.” – Deen Gu

“I like the discussion parts most as they offer me many interesting thoughts and experiences of TechChange’s members on different topics.” -Nguyen Thi Van Anh

As a recent graduate of TechChange’s courses, I can speak to the benefits of participation.

USAID/SMART TA team provides hands-on training to hamlet health worker in Nghe An (Photo credit: FHI360)

Results of mHealth Training with TechChange

Through this mHealth course, my team learned best practices as a group to explore ways to implement mHealth projects. My colleagues learned how mobile technologies are being used in other countries and sectors and thought about ways it could be applied in Vietnam. The individuals who have participated in the TechChange course are now our office mHealth champions and are actively identifying areas of work where mHealth solutions can be applied.

Here are two current mHealth pilots we have launched in Vietnam through the USAID/SMART TA program to address HIV challenges:

1. Fansipan Challenge – uses the metaphor of Fansipan mountain (Vietnam’s highest peak), gamification, and mobile technologies to support people who inject drugs and their intimate partners to test for HIV and be linked to care if they are positive.

Fansipan was created by USAID funded SMART TA project in Vietnam. Learn more about SMART TA here.

Here is a Prezi presentation explaining the Fansipan project in Vietnam called How Mobile Technologies and Gaming are Improving HIV Program

2. mCare – is the first case management application in Vietnam that utilizes mobile technologies to support and track clients across the cascade of HIV outreach, testing, care and treatment services. It also manages performance-based incentives for hamlet health workers who identify potential clients, encourage them to test for HIV, and support them to enroll and be re-engaged in HIV care and treatment and methadone maintenance treatment.

A confirmation message sent from mCare (Photo credit: FHI360)

The Results of the mHealth Pilots So Far

While mCare is in its early stages of deployment and refinement, the Fansipan Challenge has shown a dramatic reduction in programmatic unit costs, combined with significant increases in testing uptake and HIV yield among underserved key populations. Between June – November 2013, 62% of 656 injecting drug users and their intimate partners tested for HIV after a single contact. Approximately 71% of these individuals were first time testers; 17.8% were diagnosed as HIV positive. Comparative expenditure analyses of USAID/SMART TA-supported outreach services show a 50% reduction in costs associated with identifying an HIV positive person. And preliminary data further suggest that HIV positive people identified through Fansipan have higher CD4 levels (average 287.5 cells/mm3) and will thereby have better treatment outcomes than those who initiate treatment when they are severely immuno-compromised.

These new initiatives rely on mobile technologies and we, like other technical assistance providers in the development sector, need to be constantly learning about mHealth innovations, and emerging knowledge and applications. The TechChange mHealth class was a great investment in having my team become more familiar with mHealth as we introduced our mHealth initiatives.

About Caroline Francis

Caroline Francis is FHI360’s Deputy Country Director in Vietnam and completed TechChange’s Mobile Phones for Public Health course in 2012 and in 2013 when she took the course again with her team in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. She is currently involved in FHI360’s Sustainable Management of the HIV/AIDS Response and Transition to Technical Assistance (SMART TA) project in Vietnam and her areas of expertise include HIV and AIDS prevention and care and Social and behavior change communications. Caroline has previously worked as the Associate Director (HIV Prevention, Mitigation, Strategic Behavioral Communications and M&E) and Deputy Director for FHI 360 Cambodia. She received her M.A. in Anthropology from University of Victoria.

When we last featured TC309: mHealth alumna, Lauren Bailey, on the TechChange blog, we shared her mHealth final project on the potential of WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) in using mobiles for public health. Since then, Lauren has landed a position at International Medical Corps as a Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant, where she works with colleagues who are also TechChange mHealth alumni.

This week, we visited Lauren at the International Medical Corps office in Washington, DC where she shared her latest updates on her mHealth career.

What did you find useful from your TechChange course, mHealth: Mobiles for Public Health?
The TechChange mHealth online course gave me a solid background in the use of mobile phones for public health. I became familiar with different organizations and companies that develop or use mHealth programs, and I feel comfortable talking knowledgeably about mHealth with others.

What impact has TC309 and TechChange had on you and your career?

1. Connecting to future employers
I applied for a position at International Medical Corps (IMC) that had an mHealth component in the job description. During the interview process, I connected with my now supervisor and colleague who were both in the middle of taking the same TechChange mHealth course I had taken 6 months earlier. They were both impressed with what they had been learning in the course, and I feel that the TechChange connection was one of the reasons I was offered a temporary position at the organization. I have been an active member of the organization’s mHealth interest group.

During my first week at IMC, my supervisor forwarded me the most recent WASHplus newsletter as a resource for a project I was working on. To my surprise, my TechChange project was featured in the newsletter! She was very impressed that the course had led to this feature in the newsletter.

2. Connecting to like-minded professionals passionate about WASH
I am thankful to have met many motivated and interesting TechChange colleagues and alumni. I reached out to a fellow TechChange alumnus with whom I had connected during the course. He and I share a love for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Talking with him gave me great insight on his work in WASH and gave me ideas for future work in the sector.

3. Crowdsourcing knowledge for primary research
Recently, I have used the TechChange Alumni group on LinkedIn to crowdsource information on the use of mHealth for behavior change. The network is full of accomplished and gracious people with diverse backgrounds willing to help others learn. My final course project, which coincided with a master level global environmental health course, served as a stepping stone to the qualitative research I am currently conducting on the use of mHealth for behavior change communication.

What advice would you give to students taking TC309 or any TC course?
1. Pay extra attention to Alain Labrique, one of the top speakers in the course. He gives an excellent introduction to the mHealth landscape. His lecture and research is part of the motivation behind some of my interests in the different uses of mHealth.

2. Be diligent and set aside time every day to log into the course — even if you can only spend 20 minutes. Try to attend live events and make sure to ask questions that enhance the discussion.

3. Make connections. Be sure to reach out to classmates and find out more about their backgrounds and career paths. It’s great to have connections from all across the globe!

About Lauren Bailey
Lauren Bailey is in the midst of completing her Master of Public Health degree in Global Environmental Health at George Washington University where she is conducting qualitative research on the use of mHealth for behavior change in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. Lauren’s passion for global health began five years ago when she defended her undergraduate thesis that used malaria as a case study for how health impacts poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. She acquired an interest for mobile health upon entering her graduate program where she learned more about the different uses of mobile phones for health purposes. Lauren originally hails from Massachusetts and is an avid baseball fan.

Are you also interested in mobile phones for public health? Join us for our upcoming Mobiles for International Development and mHealth online courses here.

A group of girls in Zambia learn about Zambia U-Report (Photo credit: Mark Maseko – UNICEF 2013)

Information Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) holds exciting promise, especially on the African continent where we have so many systemic problems that could benefit from different mindsets and new ways of looking for solutions. When I was making my first serious foray into the world of ICT4D in 2012, I first heard about TechChange courses from a friend. When I went to the website, I was very excited to see that they were offering courses that I had been trying to take and hadn’t been able to find anywhere, least of all in Zambia. My plan was to take one course in mHealth: Mobiles for Public Health but the course was so interactive and I learned so much from the course content, online sessions and other learners’ experiences that I ended up taking the following 3 courses in just about as many months!

The result: Zamba U-Report, a SMS-based youth counseling and engagement platform that allows young people to ask trained counselors questions, take part in polls and influence decision making at policy level.

Here are some of the lessons I have learned through my course work at TechChange and applying them to ICT4D in Zambia:

1. Validate the need for your solution
Before diving into an ICT4D solution, focus on the problem you’re addressing first and establish if there is a valid need for the solution. Too often, a tremendous amount of resources are wasted when people jump ahead to create a ICT4D solution first and then try to find a problem to wrap around it.

In building Zambia U-Report, we first identified the problem as high HIV infection rates among young people in Zambia.

2. Involve the end users
Make sure you’re not just building solutions from your desk at an office. The end user of the solution must be involved in the very initial design of the solution, and give feedback throughout the process of prototyping and quality assurance (QA). You would be surprised at how often the community you are trying to help may already know what needs to change to improve their lives.

After identifying Zambian youth affected by HIV, we then involved them in designing the U-Report SMS solution and coming up with the key strategic objectives. These young people regularly give feedback and are involved in any further planning or reviews of the programme. The first year of this program’s pilot in 2 provinces has seen 50,000 young people voluntarily sign up and engage the 24/7 trained counselors by asking them questions on HIV, STIs and other sexual reproductive health issues.

3. Invest in continuous learning to keep up with ICT4D issues
TechChange courses have enabled me to better articulate and sell the idea of using technology for development to my office and I was able to contribute to various projects including one I am very proud of, the Zambia U-Report (an SMS-based youth engagement and HIV counselling platform). I have since changed jobs from ICT Officer to Innovations/Technology for Development (T4D) Officer.

To get the most from these courses, students need to commit the time required to write the blogs, take part in class conversations, read recommended materials, and engage with the instructors and other participants. It is always interesting and there is always something new to be learned from the very diverse group of people you meet in any given TechChange course.

Of course, there are more lessons learned in implementing an ICT4D programme and I would like to engage other industry practitioners. Looking forward to taking the Technology for Monitoring and Evaluation course as it will tie in very well with my work with programs helping adolescents and young people!

Priscilla Chomba Kinywa is the Innovations and T4D Officer at UNICEF Zambia. She holds a BSc Business Computing, CCNA certification, a post-graduate Diploma in Business Administration and various certifications in using technology tools and skills for international development work including TC105: Mobiles for International Development, TC309: mHealth – Mobiles for Public Health, and TC103: Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management. Priscilla has more than 13 years’ experience in ICT, working with WFP for six years and UNICEF for seven. She has also supported the creation of different innovative solutions to challenges that face Zambian children, adolescents and women. Among these are Zambia U-report, a SMS-based youth counselling, engagement and participation platform that has over 58,000 young Zambians signed up; and Programme Mwana, an intervention that uses SMS to reduce the time it takes for HIV test results for infants to reach a mother in rural Zambia from the labs in Lusaka and Ndola. Also see Priscilla’s work highlighted earlier this year on UNICEF here.

Being a first-time mother is hard, even for those of us lucky enough to have our babies in developed countries. Through the fog of fatigue and the hotbed of hormones, we try to sort through the avalanche of advice and do what is best for our newborns. How much harder it must be for women who are so poor that they struggle just to survive.

This is why I was so impressed by the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA). They take what is universal about being a new parent and transform it to fit each country where they work. Through text or voice messages timed to the woman’s weeks of pregnancy or her baby’s age, they deliver culturally sensitive, medically approved message to the mother’s mobile phone – and to her husband and other household members too, if desired. (That way, she’s not getting one message from her phone and a different one from her mother-in-law.)

The messages tell the mother what’s going on with the baby in her womb and help her understand the symptoms she might be feeling. They also recommend actions to improve her health and that of her baby, such as getting plenty of iron or exclusively breastfeeding. I subscribed to a similar service from Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter when I was pregnant, and it was immensely satisfying to read that my baby was the size of an avocado (a different fruit or vegetable every week!) and that women everywhere at the same stage of pregnancy were going through roughly the same things I was.

Even the best-educated moms can use help and reminders. I was a medical journalist, but I didn’t know about one of MAMA’s messages: Talk to your baby. Luckily, my mother-in-law was staying with me, and one day I noticed that the more she chattered to my son, the more he babbled back.

MAMA targets countries where there are high maternal and child mortality rates as well as high mobile penetration rates. It has seen remarkable uptake in Bangladesh (more than 500,000 users) and South Africa (350,000), and now is launching in India. In Bangladesh, phone surveys show that MAMA subscribers have almost twice the rate of prenatal and postnatal doctor visits and giving birth in a facility, as well as increased rates of exclusive breastfeeding – all important factors in reducing the number of women and babies who die in childbirth or infancy.

But perhaps MAMA’s greatest strength is that it brings mothers together across countries and socioeconomic levels. Rather than assuming that women in developing countries need different information, it takes the BabyCenter content and localizes it – and also makes it available to other organizations that want to do similar work.
MAMA’s service recognizes that the poor are not all that different from the rest of us – biologically, they are identical, and as new mothers, they have many of the same questions and doubts. MAMA makes brilliant use of mobile technology to address their needs.

Elizabeth Howton is an online communications officer at the World Bank. Opinions in this blog post are her own and not her employer’s.

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If you’re interested learning more about MAMA and mHealth, please join us in your upcoming courses on Mobiles for International Development and Mobiles for Public Health.

In the Fall 2013 session of TechChange’s online course on mHealth – Mobiles for Public Health, several participants attended the fifth annual mHealth Summit, a dynamic conference welcoming clinical, policy, tech, business, and academic experts to reflect on the evolution and future of mHealth.

Setting up an exhibition booth, the TechChange team attended the 2013 mHealth Summit to document the perspectives of mHealth newcomers and experts alike. We were fortunate to see some of the guest experts in our upcoming mHealth class such as Kelly Keisling from NetHope and the mHealth Working Group, Alain Labrique from Johns Hopkins, and alumnus Apera Iorwakwagh of the mHealth Alliance.

Among those we interviewed at the 2013 mHealth Summit, Dr. Layla McCay, physician, policy influencer, Huffington Post blogger, and TC309 alumna, shared her online learning experience in TC309:

See a segment of her blog post, Why mHealth Is Caught Between Vision and Reality, submitted as a TC309 final project, and published on HuffPost Tech:

At the mHealth Summit, Steve Case defined the three stages of entrepreneurship as hype, hope, and happiness. The collective imaginations of Summit delegates have been inspired by “hype” — we believe in the potential of mHealth as a health service improvement tool. That’s why we showed up. This conference seems to be planting us firmly in the “hope” phase — we recognize the significant barriers, the practical challenges to implementation. These are still early days in mHealth. What’s clear is that while mHealth may be caught between vision and reality, it’s not stuck there. It’s going to be amazing. Eventually. When it is, we’ll move into the “happiness” phase, where the potential is realized: the infrastructure’s in place, and mHealth is just a conventional, effective tool that everyone’s using in health care. The specifics of what this success will look like is impossible to predict as the field is moving so fast. What can be easier predicted, is at this point, the entrepreneurs will circle to the next hype.

We look forward to hearing and reading more from Layla and other TC309 alumni!

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Want to learn more about mHealth and the latest developments in mobile technology in public health? Register now for this 4-week online course on mHealth. Join Kendra Keith, a global health professional specializing in mHealth, as she facilitates of the Fall course starting November 17, 2014.

Kendra is a global health professional passionate about integrating mobile technologies in public health programs, particularly those targeting quality improvement of maternal and newborn health services, elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and meeting the information and training needs of community health workers. She has diverse mHealth experience including program pilot, evaluation and scale-up in Southern Province, Zambia and donor policy and implementation with the USAID Office of Health Systems. She is a “healthie”, holding a MPH from Boston University School of Public Health, but envious of all “techies”. As a TC309 alumna, she is excited to join the TechChange team to assist facilitation of the upcoming session.

By Lauren Bailey, TC309: mHealth – Mobile Phones for Public Health alumna

My final project for TechChange’s mHealth online course overlapped a final project for a master level global environmental health course. I’m currently working towards a Master of Public Health degree, concentrating in global environmental health, and specifically focusing in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). I recently became interested in mHealth and decided to do my global environmental health course project on mHealth in the WASH sector. Since I was new to mHealth, I kept the project simple, touching on some basics. This background document includes: (1) applications of mHealth in WASH; (2) case studies; and (3) recommendations.

Throughout TC309, I became increasingly interested in how mHealth can be applied to behavior change, a major component of reducing WASH-related illness. The mHealth online course has been a wonderful way to learn about the different applications of mHealth, the challenges and successes of programs, and the future possibilities of mHealth. I’ve been inspired by many of the articles, discussions, and live presentations and am now incorporating mHealth into my master’s thesis.

Here is the infographic I created, using Piktochart as part of my course project:

Highlights:

Mobile phones offer a means to reach most at-risk populations, particularly those in rural areas, to change health outcomes.
More individuals in most African countries will have access to a mobile phone than they will to an improved water source by 2013.
Mobile phones have been deployed over the past decade as tools to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Client education and behavior change communication, data collection and reporting, financial transactions and incentives, and supply chain management are potential mHealth applications categories.

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To read Lauren’s entire final project from the online course, mHealth: Mobile Phones for Public Health, please click here.

Interested in learning more about how mobile phones are impacting WASH, healthcare, and promoting health worldwide? Register now for our 4-week online on mHealth here.

How would you define mHealth?

Check out these mHealth definitions from a few of the attendees from last December’s mHealth Summit 2013 in Washington, DC, including several speakers and alumni from our mHealth online course:

Do you define mHealth differently or similarly? How has mHealth impacted your life and work?

Let us know, and join us for our next round of TC309: mHealth – Mobile Phones for Public Health!

At TechChange, we can never get enough of mobile technology because it is constantly changing and reaching more people, even the most remote and low-income parts of the world. Many in the TechChange alumni community feel similarly as our Mobiles for International Development class remains to be our most popular online course to date with more than 400 participants from over 65 countries.

As Nick mentioned in the New York Times last year, mHealth, or mobiles for public health, is the most “evolved” of the mobile sectors. There are several large-scale mHealth campaigns that have focused primarily on maternal health and vaccination campaigns. As noted in the article, several companies such as Dimagi, ZMQ and Medic Mobile have made cellphones into tools for promoting health among rural health workers via open-source software.

These technology providers are not the only players in the mHealth industry. There are also mHealth program implementers, research institutions, initiatives, and policymakers/donors. Everytime we offer this mHealth course, we change our topics, tools and speakers due to the evolving nature of the field.

Here’s the speaker line-up for Spring 2014 who will be joining us for this upcoming round of the course, which runs March 31 – April 25, 2014:

Week 1
Dr. Elena Dmitrieva will discuss the maternal health Text4Baby program in Russia.
Dr. Alain Lebrique representing the Johns Hopkins University Global mHealth Initiative, will explain the role of mHealth in achieving a continuum of care.

Week 2
Jesse Young, CTO of Telerivet, will demo their mobile messaging platform.
Nicolas di Tada will provide an overview of InSTEDD technology platforms.

Week 3
Ray Brunsting of the Tula Foundation will speak about their program in Guatemala.

Week 4
Mohini Bhavsar, a field manager with Dimagi, will discuss the Commcare platform.
Kelly Keisling, co-chair of the mHealth Working Group, will discuss groups and resources for individuals in the mHealth field.

We’re very excited to have over 45 participants enrolled from more than 12 countries representing organizations such as Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Adcem Healthcare Limited, Catholic Relief Services, Chevron, Fistula Care Plus, Howard University, International Medical Corps, Jhpiego, Kuwait University Medical School, Mercy Corps, MIT, National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors, Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, U.S. Dept. of State, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Plan International Canada, RTI, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, University of Leeds, University of Michigan Health System, University of Notre Dame Masters of Global Health Program, University of South Carolina, University of Texas Medical Branch, VillageReach, and World Vision Malawi.

Don’t miss out on this mHealth class! Enroll today!

Mercy (pictured with Maeghan Ray Orton from Medic Mobile) at UMCom workshop in Malawi

Posted by TechChange alumnus, Neelley Hicks, ICT4D Director of United Methodist Communications.

Mobile phones seem to be everywhere in Africa, and they’re keeping people in touch with health, education, banking, and community empowerment.

“Email and Facebook are problems…but this text messaging – it’s no problem,” says Betty Kazadi Musau who lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In early August 2013, I spent the week with Mercy Chikhosi Nyirongo, who provides healthcare in communities in Malawi. Recently, she took an online course through TechChange called “Mobile Phones for Public Health.” She wondered what impact mobile phones could have on her health program in Madisi, so she conducted a test.

The problem: HIV+ men were not coming to the support group and health management classes.

The test: Separate into two control groups – one would receive text reminders about the next meeting and the other would not.

The results: Out of the 20 who did not receive text messages, five attended. Out of the 30 who did receive text messages, 25 attended and were standing in queue when she arrived.

One client said, “You reached me where I was.” This isn’t a small thing. Often community health workers walk miles to find someone only to learn they are away. But the mobile phones stay with the person – making them much easier to reach.

Mercy conducted this test directly through her mobile phone and it took her nearly all day. But with FrontlineSMS, she can enter mobile numbers easily for group messaging. She said, “After the online course, the UMCom workshop (in Blantyre), and these conversations, my eyes have become wide open.”

Join us in our next round of Mobiles for International Development and mHealth: Mobiles for Public Health online courses!

To read the original post on Neelley’s blog, “Stories in ICT4D”, please click here.

The Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame is launching a pilot initiative with TechChange to experiment with blended learning online and offline on the topic of mHealth: Mobiles for Public Health. As part of Notre Dame’s continuing experiments of best practices in online and hybrid learning, this initiative of the Master of Science in Global Health program will be combining an on-campus class on mHealth taught by Professor Joseph Bock with TechChange’s mHealth online course. According to Dr. Bock, “This pilot course is an exciting initiative and we are eager to promote it.”

Notre Dame’s Master of Science in Global Health program is sponsoring 11 students and program directors to join TechChange’s mHealth online course in conjunction with Professor Joseph Bock’s face-to-face offline mHealth class, which aims to equip students with technical knowledge to apply mobile and Information Communications Technology (ICT) for global health challenges. The school will be receiving data on the students’ participation on the course platform from TechChange, which along with their written assignments for the Master of Science in Global Health class, will factor into determining the students’ grades. As the students will be logged in and participating in TechChange’s online learning platform, Professor Joseph Bock will be meeting in person with the students weekly to discuss the content on the TechChange mHealth course and the professor’s assignments.

In partnership with the mHealth Alliance, TechChange has offered this mHealth: Mobiles for International Development online course four times since 2012. The course, which has been mentioned in the New York Times, has welcomed over 450 doctors, nurses, community health workers, and global public health experts who regularly participate in this online course from over 75 countries. Participants have included representatives of organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Medicin Sans Frontieres (MSF) / Doctors Without Borders, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Cleveland Clinic, Global Health Corps, officials from ministries of health of several countries, and many more.

Notre Dame’s MS in Global Health students have been enthusiastic about beginning the mHealth course, which will run March 31 to April 25, 2014 – just before final exams and before the students travel abroad to pursue summer global health field and research projects. Several students plan on tying in their mHealth online learnings into their planned field work after this semester, including Michael Clark, who believes this mHealth course will help focus his current project to track mosquito-borne disease in Belize using a mobile database platform by meeting other global mHealth practitioners in the online class.

“The mHealth course will help focus my efforts in Belize as it teaches best practices learned through collaboration with local partners across the world,” says Michael Clark. “Further, I look forward to the invaluable tips for implementing ICT4D in previously technology-deprived areas, like rural Belize, that the expert lecturers and current global health practitioners will be able to provide.”

Jingmeng Xie plans to build upon her past experience at a Nairobi maternal health clinic (a Ford Family Program) by applying the content she learned in the mHealth classes to explore the roles mobile technology can play in public health. The MS in Global Health students, through the mHealth initiative, are diving deeply into the role that mobile data collection, electronic health records, and Information and Communications Technologies can promote better health for populations even in the most remote areas in the world. Another student, Thomas Ulsby, is preparing for his summer research trip to India where he hopes to learn how electronic reporting of blood glucose levels via mobile phones has impacted treatment plans for type I and type II diabetes.

We’re very excited to welcome these students from the University of Notre Dame and can’t wait to see how they’ll be applying their experience in mHealth to their summer field projects in India, Belize, Kenya, and beyond!

Interested in learning about mHealth this spring as well? Register now for our mHealth: Mobiles for Public Health online course.